With Every Breath
by only-some-loser
Summary: When Jack awoke, Mac was gone, and so was Nikki. (tag to 1x01)


**AN: I'm not dead! Now that I am officially done with high school (aside from graduation itself) I should have a lot more time to write. This is the first thing I've written in a long time, so I would love some constructive criticism. I have decided to challenge myself to rewatch every episode (even the ones I hate) and write a tag for each one. I'm not sure how long each one will be, but I have a feeling that this one is on the longer side from what will become the norm. I hope you enjoy, and please leave me a review and let me know what you think!**

* * *

The first thing that came to Jack's mind as he came to was Mac. Was he okay? And what about Nikki? Pushing aside the fogginess and pounding in his head, Jack forced himself to get up, only to find that the only thing remaining was the van. Mac, Nikki, and the bad guys were all gone.

"Mac!" he shouted frantically. Had his partner, his best friend, been taken, or worse?

That's when he heard the splashing in the water.

"Mac?" Jack called again, running to the cliff's edge. Upon quick observation, he could see the blonde in the water, struggling to stay afloat. "I'm coming for ya buddy!"

Jack threw caution to the wind and dove into the dark water. He quickly surfaced and swam to his partner, whose struggles against the water were lessening as he weakened.

"I've gotcha," Jack said, quickly taking Mac's right arm over his shoulder and taking stock of any obvious injuries the kid may have sustained. Jack could barely quell the panic he felt swelling as he saw the bullet hole in Mac's chest. He had to be strong right now. Thankfully, his adrenaline surged at the observation, which aided in bringing them both to shore.

Jack then ripped off his long sleeve shirt and balled it up in his hand, quickly pressing it against the freely bleeding wound too close to his partner's heart. Mac's pained whimpers made his own heart clench.

"I'm sorry bud I'm sorry, but I need to stop the bleeding," he apologized.

"Ja...Jack-" Mac tried to speak, but quickly convulsed in a coughing fit. Jack didn't fail to notice the blood that came out of the kid's mouth. Mac gasped in pain, and fell back with eyes closed, passing out.

"No no no Mac you don't get to sleep yet. Come on man, wake up. Please wake up. You can't do this," Jack pleaded. He quickly searched Mac's neck for a pulse, and was happy to find it was still there, despite being very irregular. His next thought was to call Italy's equivalent of 911, but his phone and Mac's were dead due to their impromptu swim, as well as their coms. That left Jack alone with Mac. Hopefully, Patty would find them and save the day. Jack couldn't leave Mac to find help. He just couldn't do it.

' _Where's Nikki? She should be calling by now_ ,' Jack thought, only to remember that Nikki had been gone when he awoke. He quickly scanned the dark waters for the analyst, but to no avail. He couldn't see her anywhere, and he wasn't about to go looking. A very small part of him feared for her - Nikki could be lying dead somewhere, or taken by the weapon's buyer - but that part was nothing compared to his fear for the kid lying unconscious on the shore. He kept as much pressure on the GSW as he could, praying with all that he had that someone would fine them, preferably Patty or first responders who just happened to be fully stocked and taking a late night walk on the beach. The latter was unlikely, but that didn't mean Jack couldn't wish for it.

He wasn't quite sure how long it had been, but eventually Jack heard Patty's voice above him. He couldn't remember ever hearing a more beautiful sound.

"Patty call Italy's 911 stat!" he yelled, professionalism be damned.

"They're on their way," Patty replied as she carefully made her way down the steep embankment to the side of the shore, next to the cliff. Under normal circumstances, Jack would make some comment about her being able to do something like that in such heels, but these were not normal circumstances. "Where's Nikki? She's unresponsive on coms and I can't track her," she continued.

"I was knocked out, I don't know what happened to her, but Mac is gonna-," he broke off for a moment. "Mac is gonna die if he doesn't get a hospital," Jack replied, only briefly glancing at Patty. If she saw the unhinged fear in his eyes, she made no discernment of it, but Jack would swear that he saw some fear in the director's eyes as well.

"First responders are on their way. They'll be here any minute."

The two heard the faint sound of sirens as soon as the words left Patty's mouth. They quickly grew closer and closer, and in less than a minute they were directly overhead.

The rest was a bit of a blur for Jack. He refused to leave Mac's side, and desperately held onto the kid's cold hand. It was only when Mac was wheeled away for surgery that Jack was forced to let go. Patty was there, but she was never very good at comforting others in these situations. She sat next to Jack in the waiting room, but she was making calls and trying to figure out where Nikki was as Jack sat next to her with his head in his hands.

Hours later, the surgeon finally emerged. Jack didn't give the man time to ask for them before he was up and right in front of him.

"How is he? Is he gonna be okay?" Jack asked in a wavering voice.

The surgeon sighed, which nearly made Jack break down right then and there. Heavy sighs were never a good thing.

"It was touch and go for a while, but he did pull through. The bullet barely missed his heart, but did nick his subclavian artery and lung. He's lost a lot of blood, and he's definitely not out of the woods yet, but as long as there are no surprises, he should make it," the surgeon said in heavily accented but perfect English.

"Can we see him?" Patty asked as Jack let out a sigh of relief and ran his hands through his sparse hair, turning around to burn off a little nervous energy.

"He's in intensive care, so I shouldn't let either of you, but I will let both of you see him. I would hate to be in your position. I can't imagine something like this happening to my own son and not being able to see him. But you'll have to make it quick."

Patty's eyes widened at the man's insinuation, but she didn't say anything, and Jack didn't have any physical reaction to it either. Having the hospital staff believe he was their son would certainly work to their advantage for the time being.

"Thank you so much. Where is he?" Jack pleaded.

"You can just follow me," the surgeon replied, then quickly turned and began walking down the hall.

Within minutes, the three of them had arrived in Mac's room, which was bustling with nurses doing whatever it was nurses did. Jack couldn't be bothered to actually pay attention to them, he could only focus on the kid in the bed, pale and unmoving. It was the stillness that impacted Jack the most in that moment. Mac was never still. He was always playing with paperclips and shaping them into beautiful things, or solving some problem by building something out of whatever, or even just moving his feet with extra energy. Of course, when he slept, he was mostly still, but this wasn't the same. Here, Mac was was in a hospital bed, wearing a hospital gown, and pale as could be. Usually, he would be asleep on his couch or even his desk, or Jack's guest room, or his own bed, wearing one of Jack's old shirts that he had stolen, claiming that they were better to sleep in because they fit looser than his own clothes. Jack had never bothered to point out that the kid could easily just buy larger shirts if that were really the case, because they both already knew that, and they both knew the real, unspoken reason.

The surgeon had the nurses step out of the room, and gave Patty and Jack some privacy. Jack quickly sank down into the chair next to Mac's bed, grabbing his pale hand in his own tan one.

"Oh Mac," he whispered. "You gotta pull through this bud. You gotta be okay. We're not about to have another Cairo. It's way too soon for that, and you know it. But no matter what, I'm not leaving you, ever, hospital policy be damned. I'm gonna make sure you're okay."

Jack could sense Patty's hesitation at saying anything, but he didn't think less of her for it. She had her own ways of processing things like this, and would be there for Mac in her own way. In a brief moment of almost motherly affection, Patty slowly stretched out her hand towards Mac, pulled it back for a second, then set it gently on Mac's hair, brushing it once before pulling back, coming to rest on Jack's hand - which was on top of Mac's - for a brief moment.

"Hang in there MacGyver," she whispered. "You still have so much more good to do in this world."

For several minutes, neither one said anything else, but Patty eventually cleared her throat to break the silence.

"I should get going, try to figure out where Nikki is, and what we need to tell Mac's cover. He'll be wondering what happened to him..." her voice trailed off for a moment. "I'll make sure you're cleared to stay as long as you like," Patty said, beginning to walk to the door. Right before she opened it, she added, "and of course you'll keep me updated on his progress?"

"Of course Patty, and thank you," Jack replied, briefly taking his eyes off Mac to glance in her direction. She didn't reply, but gave a gentle smile, and walked out the door, closing it slowly behind her.

* * *

The days seemed to pass without time. Minutes felt like hours which felt like seconds which felt like a week. Jack spent nearly every waking moment by Mac's side, only moving when the nurses needed better access, and when he showered. Patty had sent over plenty of Jack's clothes and food, as well as a new phone, already programmed with everything Jack's old one had. She came to visit Mac only once more, due to her needing to fly back to LA, but she called Jack every evening to ask about Mac's progress. As much as the woman with nerves of steel and a seemingly stone cold heart tried not to let others see it, she truly cared for her agents, especially one as young as MacGyver. Most of the updates Jack gave her were the same: Mac was still unconscious, but seemed to slowly be healing, and there hadn't been any complications. But finally, things changed.

Jack noticed it immediately. Mac's eyes were moving around the lids. His mouth was moving almost imperceptibly as well. Jack tried to quell his rising hope. He didn't want to be disappointed again, but he couldn't help the feeling. Mac's eyes began moving even more rapidly, and he began speaking softly in his sleep.

"No," the blonde softly said. He repeated it again a little louder.

"Mac?" Jack said, resting his hand on the kid's shoulder, and gently squeezing. "Come on buddy, let me see those baby blues again. Please wake up."

Mac's breathing began to pick up, and he suddenly awoke with a gasped out "no!", quickly half-sitting up, then groaning in pain as he fell back down.

"Hey hey hey, it's okay, you're okay, you're safe," Jack said, once again resting one hand on Mac's shoulder while the other gripped his hand, trying to ground him. He couldn't keep the smile off his face at seeing the kid he considered his little brother, or even his son, once again awake.

"Jack?" he said, staring up at the man.

"Yeah bud I'm here. You're in the hospital. You got shot, remember?"

Mac's eyes were wide for a moment, then quickly filled with what Jack could only have described as utter despair, causing Jack's own heart to plummet.

"Nikki? Did you find Nikki?" he asked, his voice breaking at the end.

Jack sighed, "I'm sorry kid, but no. We couldn't find her. We were kind of hoping you might know what happened to her. Did the buyer take her with him?"

Mac closed his eyes, but that didn't stop the tears from falling silently down his face.

"She's dead."

Jack's heart stopped.

"After I gave him the virus, he- he-," he stopped for a moment in a failed attempt to compose himself. "He shot her, point blank, in the chest, and she fell into the water. Then he shot me. I don't remember anything else."

Jack didn't know what to say. He knew that there was a chance Nikki was dead, but he was hoping against hope that somehow, someway, she would show up okay.

"I'm so sorry kid, I'm so sorry," Jack replied, his own voice wavering in grief. He reached out to hold Mac's hand with both of his own, and held on to him as tightly as he could without hurting him more as the two silently grieved.

Eventually, nurses and doctors came in to check on Mac now that he was awake, and for once, Mac was compliant with the medical staff.

For the next few days, Mac was blank. He claimed he just needed rest, but Jack knew that it was only because of his grief that he was shutting everyone out. But Jack hadn't spent the last several years breaking down the kid's walls for nothing. He was going to be there for him, no matter what. Throughout all of Mac's recovery, Jack was going to be there to help him in any and every single way he could. He hadn't been able to protect him from getting shot, and he couldn't protect his heart from the grief, but he could damn well piece him back together. Because that was Jack's job, taking care of Mac, and he would do it with every breath.


End file.
